Exclusivity; The End Or The Beginning

posted on 1st of february, 2011

Those of you all that follow my blogs know that I went exclusive on DT six months ago. At the time, I was traveling, super busy and had limited internet connection. I wanted to see the effect of my income by being exclusive with DT.

I have canceled my exclusive contract but not because of anything that DT has done wrong or any radical change in the microstock industry. MY situation has changed and now I must increase my income over what I can bring in using DT exclusively. I now have a bit better internet connection so can upload to other agencies. I have also become engaged and will soon be married. My home base will be Khabarovsk, Far East Russia but most of my time will be spent in a photographer's blind in some desolate wilderness.

I believe the husband is responsible for the family well-being and that translates to needing to provide a good income. As a full-time wildlife photographer in Russia, that is a daunting task.

I have applied and been accepted at all the top microstock agencies (SS, IS, FT, etc) and the less prestigious agencies. Soon, the mad rush will begin to populate these agencies with images but DT will still be my home and where I interact with my community.

I have felt very at home, the management has been good to me and provided feedback to all my emails. The community (that is you all) have been like family. I only know you by your screen names but i know you better by your images and your style of photography.

I thank all; management, buyers and contributors, for this wonderful community.

So what is the final analysis: i roughly doubled my average monthly income by being exclusive, I made roughly $150 just for the images I uploaded (that is the 0.20 cents they say you get for uploads, nice!) but more important; I feel I gained friends and associates in this industry that will be my friends and peers for many years to come. I am not sure that is possible when we spread our time between many different agencies.

So, one could ask, should I go exclusive with DT. If you are not a full-time working pro with lots of time to invest maintaining multiple portfolios, I would say, Yes. You will find a good home at DT; a community that supports the newbie and the seasoned pro.

Thank you Dreamstime.

Oh, this is me! Sorry but that is all you get to see of me, I am pretty shy.

Tags: beginning end exclusive sales start

Comments (16)

	Posted by Suebmtl on February 07, 2011 Thanks and all the best of luck with lots of sales.
	Posted by Visceralimage on February 03, 2011 Thanks for all comments Brad; you are correct, in past I had 11 sites that did not preform for the two months i was part of them. In past, I only had few images on IS and none on SS; these seem to be two top selling sites and the other sites did not have wide portfolio and not long time. I need to be more patient with smaller sites. I also need to sell my images to other types of outlets like signs, business cards, t-shirts, cards, etc.
	Posted by Saraizzo on February 03, 2011 hi, I think that i learn quite a lot things from you, thanks and a regard and sorry for a not good english
	Posted by Brianarbuthnot on February 03, 2011 Enjoyed the tips and good luck with the upcoming nuptuals :)
	Posted by Bradcalkins on February 03, 2011 I was curious to see why you 'left' - given you blog a while back about how you sold better here than elsewhere... You said 'on 11 other sites I had zero sales' !
	Posted by Jiawangkun on February 03, 2011 You're so cool~
	Posted by Tan510jomast on February 02, 2011 I like the idea that exclusive contributors be rewarded for their loyalty by better search placement and increasing approval ratio. As we all know, your incredible photos are useless if buyers cannot find them. BUT also , not only the best earnings, but who will be around in the business to not be bought out and killed. Dreamstime is proving to many to be attractive in these criteria, as, a lot of downloads at one other top site at very miniscule commissions per dl does not appeal to me either. I actually already decided on just two sites, Dreeamstime is one of them. . Which one will it be? :P
	Posted by Physi28 on February 02, 2011 OK, don´t be shy and tell us about your experiences with the other stock agencies ;-))
	Posted by Laurasinelle on February 02, 2011 Congrats for your wedding, wish you all the best in your new life!
	Posted by Meryll on February 02, 2011 I am looking forward your next blogs with news regarding stock experiences :-) Good luck!
	Posted by Mariaam on February 02, 2011 Good luck! :)
	Posted by Scottysally2 on February 02, 2011 Nice images. Wish you all the best for the future. :)
	Posted by Rosedarc on February 02, 2011 Good luck with your new ventures, hopefully all your hard work will pay off nicely.
	Posted by Danee79 on February 02, 2011 All the best. In two months you can inform us whether you made the right decision.
	Posted by Visceralimage on February 01, 2011 Egomezta; I will still do blogs for DT; it is so much fun, maybe not a dozen a month but certainly a few a month or so
	Posted by Egomezta on February 01, 2011 Well this is contradictory: First to bad that you won't be exclusive in DT, that will mean that you won't have enough time to share your great blogs... On the other hand congratulations for your wedding and the new life you're going to start... : )